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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118838">Clay and Violets</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rileywrites/pseuds/rileywrites'>rileywrites</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Clay and Violets [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Old Guard (Movie 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Booker and Nile get to Rest, Booker is forgiven, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Mission Fic, Post-Canon, kind of, very brief mention of a handsy bad guy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:54:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118838</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rileywrites/pseuds/rileywrites</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>April:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Andy and Quynh are in Asia somewhere, retracing steps they took a millennia ago, picking up smaller gigs when they're needed. Joe and Nicky are at their estate in Tuscany, spending a much needed break together.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Which leaves Nile and Booker at a new safe house in England. In theory, Nile is helping Copley with establishing her aliases. In practice, she's distracting Booker from his internal turmoil by being purposefully obnoxious.</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nile Freeman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Clay and Violets [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901956</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>391</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Book of Nile Collection!</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Clay and Violets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The muse is fickle. Some months I get nothing. Other times I get 4k words in a new fandom in the span of 6 hours. Et voila. Also I've only ever seen the movie, so this takes place in a nebulous future where the Quynh thing is all wrapped up and Booker is forgiven.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>April:</p><p>Andy and Quynh are in Asia somewhere, retracing steps they took a millennia ago, picking up smaller gigs when they're needed. Joe and Nicky are at their estate in Tuscany, spending a much needed break together.</p><p>Which leaves Nile and Booker at a new safe house in England. In theory, Nile is helping Copley with establishing her aliases. In practice, she's distracting Booker from his internal turmoil by being purposefully obnoxious.</p><p>"Booker, come spar with me. Come on, I need practice." Nile lands on the couch beside him and pokes him in the arm. "I've finished a course, and you've been sitting here ignoring the TV all day."</p><p>(She is very aware that she only gets away with it is because he lets her. If she were anyone else, they'd never get this close.)</p><p>"Nile..."</p><p>"If you don't spar with me today, I'll... I'll make you learn how to braid my hair," Nile threatens. "It's a long, tedious process."</p><p>Her latest look is a long curly wig that Nicky sent her. It fits one of the personas she's been building, but it's time for a change.</p><p>"Wash day isn't for three more days," Booker argues. It's cute that he's been paying attention.</p><p>"Then you can braid it in three days," Nile argues back. She rearranges on the couch to put her head in Booker's lap. "Would you really rather braid my hair than spar with me tonight?"</p><p>"We have sparred every day this week. Perhaps I would like a break."</p><p>"Am I wearing you out, old man?"</p><p>She deserves the thump on the forehead he gives her. She doesn't expect his hand to settle on the top of her head, thumb skimming her eyebrow.</p><p>Nile has been working for months to cultivate this careful closeness, the gradual softening of a man made entirely of walls.</p><p>"You need a break too. Rest, <em>ma sirène</em>, the fighting will be there tomorrow."</p><p>There are a thousand terms of endearment that Nile has learned over the few short years with the group. This one, Booker only uses with her.</p><p>"<em>Why do you call me a mermaid?" She asked once.</em></p><p>
  <em>"Not a mermaid. A siren." Booker smiled, tight around the edges. "Somehow, I can't resist when you call."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I won't lead you to your death," Nile argued.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I know. It's why I don't mind following."</em>
</p><p>"Fine. I will rest." Nile pulls a blanket off of the back of the couch and settles in for a nap. "Wake me for dinner, please."</p><p>"If you leave me to my own devices, I will order take away that you do not like," Booker threatens. The edge is softened by his thumb skimming her forehead.</p><p>"You can have anything you want," Nile replies, already half-asleep.</p><p>"I do not know that I can."</p><p>Nile will wonder what he means by that later.</p><p>...</p><p>May:</p><p>Nile wakes to Booker screaming.</p><p>She pulls on her robe, grabs her gun, and rushes into his room. It's late, or maybe early, but she has to be sure he's okay. They've been through too much shit not to check.</p><p>(And sure. A good portion of that shit was because of Booker, but water under the bridge and all that shit.)</p><p>When Nile gets across the hall, there's no one but Booker in his room. The only threats are in his mind.</p><p>"Booker. Booker!" Nile carefully touches his shoulder. "Sébastien, wake up!"</p><p>Booker startles awake, eyes frantic until he realizes where he is.</p><p>"Nile<em>, dieu merci</em>." Booker clutches at her hands.</p><p>"Hey, you're okay. We're okay. I've got you. You're safe." Nile sits on the edge of his bed and holds him close. "It was a dream."</p><p>"You didn't wake up," he finally mumbles. "None of you woke up."</p><p>"I'm right here. The others are okay. Do you need me to stay?"</p><p>Booker wakes enough to pull his walls up again, pulling out of her embrace.</p><p>"I will be fine."</p><p>"New question. Do you want me to stay, Book?"</p><p>Booker looks at her, tears still filling his eyes.</p><p>"Please." It looks painful, admitting he wants the comfort. "Only if you want."</p><p>"I want you to rest, and I want you to feel safe." Nile puts her gun under the second pillow and curls up against Booker's side. "I'm here, and I'm alive. There's no getting rid of me, Book."</p><p>"Never." Booker lies back down, a careful distance between them. Nile reaches out a hand, and he takes it. "Thank you."</p><p>"Always."</p><p>When Nile wakes next, Booker has embraced her in his sleep, arms curled around her waist and face tucked against her silk head wrap.</p><p>He grumbles when she stretches some, which makes her giggle.</p><p>"Go back to sleep, it is too early," he slurs in sleepy French.</p><p>His bed is comfortable, and his embrace is more so. Nile falls asleep easily, warm and content in his arms.</p><p>He's gone when she wakes for real, but she can smell breakfast cooking.</p><p>When Nile emerges from Booker's room, she finds American-style French toast waiting for her.</p><p>"It is not really French," Booker says for the thousandth time.</p><p>"I know, but you know it makes me happy." Nile drops a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Booker."</p><p>Booker speaks through action when he cannot with words.</p><p>...</p><p>June:</p><p>Nile comes home from a long day with Copley to find dinner on the table, Booker bopping around the kitchen to one of Nile's playlists. She leans in the doorway to enjoy the view.</p><p>"Come, sit. I have made your favorite," Booker says in French. He gestures to the table. "You were working all day, eat."</p><p>Nile loves when Booker cooks his old recipes, meals from before dieting was invented, made mainly of cream and lard and potatoes and wine. Today it is some sort of potato and pork deliciousness that Nile loves but cannot pronounce.</p><p>"You spoil me." Nile sits, grinning. "You had a good day?"</p><p>"Andy called."</p><p>That explains the good mood.</p><p>"How is she?"</p><p>"Good. She's healed from that last mission with Quynh. Her old joints hurt, but that is to be expected at her age." Booker laughs. "You cannot be six thousand years old and avoid joint damage."</p><p>"Most people would end that sentence with her age."</p><p>"We are not most people, <em>ma sirène</em>." Booker pours a glass of wine for each of them. "Eat."</p><p>So Nile eats, if only to make Booker happy. She likes seeing him in a rare good mood.</p><p>"Tomorrow is wash day, yes?"</p><p>"It is. I'm thinking I might leave it like this, though." Nile tosses her head, and her fro bounces.</p><p>"No braids?"</p><p>If Nile didn't know better, she'd think he sounded disappointed.</p><p>"Maybe. I haven't decided yet. Are you offering to braid it, Booker?"</p><p>Booker shrugs, carefully nonchalant. It's a facade.</p><p>"I am still learning. It is important to keep up a skill." Booker nods toward a bag on the coffee table that Nile didn't notice earlier. "I found something for you when I went for groceries."</p><p>Nile immediately gets up to grab it, pulling out a jar of some bougie clay hair mask from a boutique in town. It smells like shea butter and violets.</p><p>"You said your hair needed moisture, and you ran out of the last jar Nicky sent," Booker explains. "The woman said it would work with your hair. Her hair looked like yours, so she ought to know."</p><p>Nile can tell he's eager to please her, so she kisses his cheek on her way back to her seat.</p><p>"It's perfect, Booker, thank you." Nile grins. "I'm not even going to ask how much it cost."</p><p>"Don't, you will be mad at me for being so frivolous." Booker finally smiles. "I'm glad it makes you happy."</p><p>They eat in comfortable silence for a while, content to let the moment linger.</p><p>"I think it will be a good time for braids," Nile says as she packs up the leftovers.</p><p>"Good," Booker says, almost too fast. "I like learning new things, and I'm getting better at your braids."</p><p>...</p><p>July:</p><p>Joe and Nicky come to visit on their way to a quick job in New York, some basic recon that needs boots on the ground. It so happens they arrive on wash day, Nile half-asleep with Booker's hands in her hair.</p><p>"I would hug you, but I would lose track," Booker says, tilting his face up for a quick embrace from each of them.</p><p>Nile smiles sleepily when Nicky and Joe kiss her forehead in turn.</p><p>"You have him well-trained, Nile," Nicky teases. "How long has he been braiding?"</p><p>"I taught him in April as a punishment for ignoring me in favor of TV," Nile says, squeezing Booker's wrist fondly. "It's nice, not having to do it myself or pay someone in town."</p><p>Hair ladies ask too many questions, and Nile is still working at lying as easily as the rest of them do.</p><p>"I was told to learn new skills while on sabbatical," Booker says. "We spar, we research, and I braid."</p><p>"I think it's cute," Joe says, pulling out a phone. "I want to send Andy a picture."</p><p>"Send it to me too, please." Nile lets her eyes slip closed, soothed by the familiar rhythm and the knowledge that more of her family is home. "I want photo evidence."</p><p>Nicky whips up dinner because Nile and Booker lost track of time. After they eat, Joe and Booker go for a run around the neighborhood. It's one of the few things they can do without wanting to kill each other.</p><p>After lingering over coffee, Nicky washes while Nile dries.</p><p>"So, you and Booker...?"</p><p>Nile tilts her head. "What about us?"</p><p>"Is there an 'us'? He seems absolutely besotted with you, dear one. I've not seen him this happy... ever, I suppose. Certainly not since Merrick."</p><p>Nile carefully considers it.</p><p>"He hasn’t made any overt moves, but... I think he might want to."</p><p>"And you, <em>cara</em>?"</p><p>Nile can't lie to Nicky, not after everything.</p><p>"I could love him, if he let me."</p><p>"You will have to convince him. He does not believe he deserves good things." Nicky bumps his hip against hers. "Your love among them."</p><p>"What would Andy say?"</p><p>"She would say 'it's about time you popped your head out of your ass, Book.'" The imitation is uncanny. "She just wants us happy. All of us."</p><p>The boys come back in before Nile can decide what to say, laughing and panting and cursing in a thousand languages Nile only partly understands.</p><p>"I beat him home," Booker announces in French. "He said I was out of touch, but I won!"</p><p>"You cheated," Joe argues in Arabic, a phrase Nile has picked up from these exact circumstances a hundred times before.</p><p>"I'm proud of you, Booker," Nile says, in English because she is too tired for the Rosetta Stone bullshit they call language. "I'm sure you won fair and square."</p><p>"Lies! Blasphemy!"</p><p>"Should I let you win next time?" Booker asks, grinning.</p><p>"Yes," Nile and Nicky say together, laughing.</p><p>Nile hasn't seen Booker this joyful in ages. Nicky's question echoes through her mind, along with her answer.</p><p>"I could love him, if he let me."</p><p>...</p><p>August:</p><p>Nile complains about England long enough for Booker to cave and take her to a tiny beach in who-the-fuck-knows-where, France. The house is small, isolated, and has probably belonged to Andy since the first Louis was on the throne.</p><p>"Come swim with me," Nile calls from the shallows. "You can't just sit and read forever. Enjoy the beach!"</p><p>Booker sighs dramatically, but Nile grins when he puts a bookmark in <em>Journey to the Center of the Earth</em> and pulls off his tank top.</p><p>"Did you use enough sunblock? Just because we heal, doesn't mean we stop hurting," Nile says, grin widening. "You're blindingly white, Book."</p><p>He joins her in the water, ducking under to wet his hair and promptly distract Nile from her taunts.</p><p>"It is not my fault that England has leached my color, <em>ma sirène</em>. The abysmal country does not have enough sun."</p><p>"You'll be able to get your tan back," Nile says, heading for deeper water and expecting him to follow. "We're here at least a week."</p><p>"Anything to make you happy," Booker says. "Or do you prefer me blinding?"</p><p>"You're always stunning, Book, pale or tan."</p><p>Nile has been through too much shit with this man to bother lying. Based on her calculations, they have a couple thousand years together ahead of them. There's no point.</p><p>The look of surprise on his face is both amusing and heartbreaking.</p><p>"You... really? Do you... find me attractive?"</p><p>"I'm a bi woman with eyes, Booker. Yes, I find you attractive, and not just because you could dead lift a Fiat." Nile ducks under the water and surfaces close enough to touch. "Your whole self is beautiful. All the bits of you. I love all of you."</p><p>Booker looks startled, but not unhappy.</p><p>"Nile..."</p><p>"Yes, Book?"</p><p>Something settles in his face, resignation or contentment or both.</p><p>"Call me Sébastien, yes? If we are to... if you are to... if this is love..."</p><p>"Sébastien." The name feels special, personal. Nile wraps her arms around his neck, letting him worry about keeping them afloat. "Sébastien, my love, can I kiss you?"</p><p>"Please."</p><p>Nile kisses him, and he kisses back, soft and sacred and perfect. Somewhere between their first kiss and their dozenth, Booker guides them back to the shallows, his arms around Nile's waist.</p><p>When they finally part, Booker stops touching any part of her, and Nile feels like she lost a limb.</p><p>"We good?" She asks quietly, trying not to spook him.</p><p>"Good. We're good." Booker scrubs a hand over his face. "I need to process."</p><p>"Take your time, baby. We've got all the time in the world."</p><p>Not for the first time, she's struck by how real that phrase is now.</p><p>His cheeks flush further, and Nile files it away for future reference. Her crotchety antique Frenchman likes to be called baby.</p><p>"I'm going to get water from the cooler. Would you like a water?"</p><p>"Yes, please." Nile finds a rock to settle on, enjoying the warmth like a lizard and the view of a shirtless Booker bringing her water.</p><p>This little cove is paradise.</p><p>...</p><p>September:</p><p>Nile stands in the doorway of the lounge, watching Booker watch sports commentary she only barely understands.</p><p>"Sébastien."</p><p>"Yes, <em>ma sirène</em>?"</p><p>"Copley called. He found a mission for us. Human trafficking in Calais."</p><p>Booker's eyes shutter. They've been so untouched by the cruelties of the world lately.</p><p>"They're drugging women, taking them off the streets. He's found the leader of the group, but we have to act fast."</p><p>Booker stands and starts the rhythmic routine of cleaning their weapons.</p><p>"What's the plan? Will we have the others?"</p><p>"Joe and Nicky are on their way now. They'll meet us there."</p><p>"Who are we to be?"</p><p>"You're going to be the connection. I'm the bait." Nile hates phrasing it that way, but here they are. "Apparently, he has a thing for both black women and other men's wives."</p><p>"I hate him already," Booker all but growls. "Is it not enough to be a criminal, must one also be vile?"</p><p>"Copley had our new passports ready. Sébastien and Isla Martin. You're a French businessman, and I'm your American wife, so my terrible accent won't throw anything off."</p><p>They have married aliases for any combination of the team, but this pair is one of Nile's favorites. She's maybe put too much thought into marrying Booker.</p><p>Booker raises his eyebrows. "Are all of your aliases rivers, beloved?"</p><p>"I thought it was funny, and Copley went with it." Nile throws some clothes in a bag, one of the nice vintage suitcases Joe and Nicky bought new. She fishes Isla's wig out and sets it on top. "We're going to be on holiday. You're going to gamble with the target. I'm going to be professionally beautiful. One of us gets him alone. Quick kill, take all his tech, make it look natural or self-inflicted."</p><p>"And it has to be soon?"</p><p>"We can't pinpoint his latest shipment from here, but they're going out this weekend. Copley says it’s now or never, and Andy won't be back in time to run point."</p><p>"I don't like this. It puts you in too much danger."</p><p>Nile stalls his hands on her gun, so he'll make eye contact.</p><p>"I'm going to be fine. You have my back, right?"</p><p>"Always."</p><p>"Then I'll be fine. It's not my first honey pot mission, Bas."</p><p>"I still hate it."</p><p>Nile kisses him softly and lets him get back to work. He'll be more settled on the drive if he knows everything is prepared.</p><p>She checks his go-bag, making sure at least two burner phones are included with his clothing and toiletries.</p><p>"I'm packing your suit with my stuff, babe. Your bag will have too much other shit."</p><p>"I hate suits."</p><p>"I know. It's coming with us anyway."</p><p>The last thing on her list is perhaps the most important.</p><p>Nile swings open the painting over the safe and dials in Nicky's supposed birthday. There are several things hidden here, bits of their long histories, jewelry and weapons and shit Nile will never understand.</p><p>"Which box is yours?"</p><p>"The green one. The blue box on the second shelf should fit you."</p><p>Booker's wedding band is gold and classic. The set he picked for her is a matching classic band with an extravagant engagement ring.</p><p>"Booker, this looks new."</p><p>"Your hands are broader than Andy's. Her rings won't fit."</p><p>Nile brings him the rings and holds out her hand. "Would you do the honors, Sébastien?"</p><p>Booker looks conflicted, but the fondness is inescapable in his face. He slides the rings onto her finger and kisses the back of her hand.</p><p>She does the same for him. A little sham of a wedding that feels like far more.</p><p>"Let's get this show on the road, husband."</p><p>Two days later, when the trafficker is dead and the girls are safe, Nile takes the longest shower of her life to rid herself of his hands on her body. He didn't survive long enough to do much, but it still feels fucking wrong.</p><p>Booker stands guard outside the bathroom door, hands still shaking.</p><p>"Bas."</p><p>Nile sees tears in his eyes when he looks up, and she opens her arms to him. He clings to her.</p><p>"He's dead," Nile reminds him. Reminds them both. "We killed him. He didn't get to hurt me, and he'll never hurt anyone again."</p><p>"He put his hands on you. I wish I could have killed him twice." Booker is crying, his face tucked against her neck. "I'm sorry."</p><p>"It's not your fault, baby. I'm okay." Nile holds him tight as they sink to the floor. "Love, honey, I'm okay. We're okay."</p><p>They hold each other until both run out of tears. Nile steers Bas toward the bed.</p><p>They fall asleep in a tangle of limbs, Booker's broad body blocking her from the world.</p><p>Later still, Nile hesitates before she puts the rings back in the safe.</p><p>...</p><p>October:</p><p>The family reunites in Surrey, the whole safe house full to bursting with immortals and the immortal adjacent.</p><p>Nile is thrilled to have everyone home, and even more thrilled to have an excuse to bunk with Booker officially. She moves the last few of her belongings into his room, saying Nicky and Joe should take the Master bedroom.</p><p>Andy looks from one to the other for about four seconds before smacking Booker upside the head.</p><p>"It's about time, asshole. You hurt her, and I'll kill you a dozen times myself."</p><p>Nicky and Nile exchange a Look and laugh.</p><p>"Ay, boss, no need for the shovel talk. I could never."</p><p>"I know." Andy hugs Nile tightly and murmurs "I hope he makes you happy."</p><p>"He does. Thank you." Something in her back pops, and Nile laughs. "Easy, I'm immortal, not unbreakable."</p><p>"Remember that. It will keep you sane in the long run."</p><p>They put both leaves in the dining table so the whole family can fit for dinner. Andy sits at the head of the table; the others arranged to best reach food and bother their loved ones. Copley sits at the foot out of self-preservation.</p><p>Time passes in a whirl of conversation, at least half of which Nile doesn't even know the language, let alone the contents. Luckily, Copley is there to anchor the room in English, at least occasionally.</p><p>"I finished my masters," Nile announces, to the joy of the whole table. "You're looking at a woman with a masters in international relations."</p><p>"I'm proud, kid." Andy raises her glass. "One down, one million to go."</p><p>"Technically, Savannah King has a masters, but Nile Freeman is the one who did the work," Nike jokes.</p><p>"Next is Isla Martin's social work degree," Copley says. "How is that coming, by the way?"</p><p>"Halfway done, before everything got crazy. I'll have the coursework done by spring, and you can forge my practicum hours."</p><p>"You're spoiled," Joe protests. "In my day, we did our hours in person."</p><p>"It's the twenty-first century. The fewer contacts I make with the system, the better." Nile takes a bite. "Besides, it's an American degree, so I'd have to do American hours."</p><p>"I don't want to be in America," Booker grumbles. "The food is horrible, expensive, or both."</p><p>Nile pats his arm. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. You people have me used to Europe by now."</p><p>Not to mention, America feels too much like home. Too much like she could just get in a car and drive to her mom's house, go see her brother, the sister-in-law she will never meet.</p><p>Europe is safer.</p><p>"You sound so sure you'd go with her, Book," Andy teases. "What if she wants to go alone? Or take Joe and Nicky?"</p><p>"Alone isn't safe, and she'd kill them for fucking too loud and ruining her studies," Booker counters.</p><p>"I've become attached to our crotchety Frenchman," Nile says, kissing his cheek. "No one else can do my hair properly, after all. And he's right. I couldn't be third wheel for a solid year. It would end in multiple deaths."</p><p>"It would be an honor to be killed by you, dear one," Nicky says.</p><p>"You're the only immortal here who hasn't killed one of the others, on purpose or on accident," Joe adds.</p><p>"I want to keep my streak, thanks. As long as I can, at least." Nile shakes her head. "It's hard enough seeing y'all dead from someone else."</p><p>Booker places his hand on her leg, palm up. Nile entwines their fingers and leans against his shoulder.</p><p>"It will never cease to amaze me, the level of ease with which you discuss death and immortality," Copley says. "Only three years in."</p><p>"Trust me, I still have existential crises. I just also have a family, a purpose, love." Nile squeezes Booker’s hand. "It all helps."</p><p>"I'm glad. I'm glad you've found your anchor." Copley's smile is bittersweet, the only one in the room without a partner. "We all need love, immortal or otherwise."</p><p>"I love that you say it like immortal is the default," Quynh says, distracting them from Nile.</p><p>"There are too many people in our house," Booker says quietly, lips to Nile's ear. "I wish we were back in France, at the beach."</p><p>"We'll go back soon," Nile promises. "For now, we're with family."</p><p>Later, when the house is quiet and they're curled up in Booker's bed, he takes his time kissing her good night.</p><p>"I love you," he says reverently. "I know I don't tell you enough, but I love you."</p><p>"You tell me plenty," Nile says, carding her fingers through his hair. "You tell me when you braid my hair, when you cook my favorite foods, when you keep me safe. You tell me every day."</p><p>"I should tell you more."</p><p>"Bastien, baby."</p><p>"Yes, <em>ma sirène</em>?"</p><p>"<em>Je t'aime</em>."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Find my personal blog at <a href="https://reactingcaptain.tumblr.com/">reactingcaptain</a> and  my writing-exclusive blog at <a href="https://rileywrites.tumblr.com/">rileywrites</a>.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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